


Little Tin Soldiers

by still_lycoris



Category: Blake's 7, Firefly
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 17:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1122663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/pseuds/still_lycoris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wormhole brings the Serenity and the Liberator together briefly. River finds it ... distressing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Tin Soldiers

On the whole, Simon preferred the look of The Liberator to Serenity.

It was so … polished. So shiny, so _big_. So homey somehow. Much better than the dark, small, dirty spaces of Serenity. Although he was hoping he was hiding that because he didn’t think the Captain or Kaylee would ever forgive him if they noticed and that would be bad because he couldn’t stay here, as they were apparently in another universe.

Everyone else seemed to have taken that terribly calmly. Something about wormholes and space travel and the only reason they’d really stopped at all was because their systems had got all mixed up and something the Liberator had done had managed to half-ruin Serenity’s navigation computer.

“We thought you might be the Federation,” Blake had explained apologetically. “We really didn’t know. Don’t worry, Avon can fix your computer in no time.”

This Avon was why Simon was currently back on Serenity, as someone had to keep an eye on him. Kaylee had been with him at first but then she’d stomped through the tunnel linking the two ships, looking fed up.

“He said that I was a distraction and that if I didn’t go away, he’d do something mean,” she sulked. “I only told him just because this ship’s a real beauty, it don’t mean Serenity’s something to turn your nose up at. He was being all rude about her!”

“That’s Avon for you,” Jenna had said dryly. “Don’t worry. He really is a computer expert.”

“Well, that’s as maybe,” Mal had said, smiling in his mostly friendly but slightly displeased way. “But I’m not all together comfortable with someone I don’t know going awanderin’ in my ship so maybe our good doctor here will just go and stand with him, all right?”

So Simon had been sent back to try and not look like he was staring at Avon doing incomprehensible things to the computer systems. Simon had thought about chatting but he couldn’t think of anything to say and Avon had given him such a quelling look when he’d coughed slightly that he had felt discouraged. Why couldn’t they have sent Jayne? Wasn’t this was Jayne was _for?_ Instead, Jayne was over there with the small man, Vila, who was apparently going to teach him how to pick _pockets_.

He thought grumpily about the others on The Liberator. It had looked a nice ship. He betted it had a wonderfully stocked infirmary. Hopefully there would be time to ask later, get anything useful they might be willing to sell or just let him look at for a while. Maybe they would have something to help River …

Thinking her name alerted him to the fact that she had crept into the room without him noticing. She was crouching next to Avon who had also become aware of her presence and was looking at her with an eyebrow slightly raised.

“It’s okay, she’s my sister!” Simon said quickly. “River, leave the nice man alone, he’s busy.”

“Not nice,” River corrected him in an absent sort of way. “Never nice. It’s too dangerous to be nice. Cats and their claws and you don’t see it coming and it’s all split open right down the middle. All slippy with blood. Red on white. He’s doing the computer wrong.”

“Ah,” Simon said, wondering if there was a tactful way of telling Avon that if River thought that, she was probably right, despite whatever she had been saying about cat claws. “Um.”

“And what exactly am I getting wrong?” Avon asked, his voice decidedly cool. “Do please enlighten me.”

“There,” River said immediately, pointing. “All wrong. Mismatched wires. The ship won’t be able to talk any more if you do that. Everyone needs to be able to talk. It’s only fair. Only right. Have to get it right.”

She followed this with a string of what Simon could only assume was computer jargon – at least, he didn’t understand much of it. Avon apparently did though. He was looking extremely surprised.

“Your people didn’t say you had an expert on board,” he said.

“Mismatched wires,” River said sadly before Simon could answer. Then she graced Avon with her sweetest smile that Simon hadn’t seen nearly enough since he’d rescued her and settled herself down, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, apparently content to watch Avon doing whatever he was doing. After a moment, Avon continued, clearly a little puzzled and occasionally sneaking sideways glances at River, who was twitching her bare toes peacefully and staring at him in a very fixed sort of way. Simon wondered what she was thinking.

When Avon announced he was finished, he asked Simon to help him refit the computer innards. Simon suspected was a ruse and was immediately proved right.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“They tortured her,” Simon answered, keeping his voice low. “She’s a genius but … things don’t always come out right. I don’t know how much of what she said was right or how much she just … guessed.”

“Guessed?” Avon gave him a withering look. “You can’t _guess_ that kind of knowledge.”

Simon didn’t say anything. He thought River probably had understood everything she’d been saying – but he’d seen it before, River gleaning things from people, swift and sure and not really knowing what she’d gleaned but able to repeat it with confidence. He didn’t think he wanted to say that to Avon though. People didn’t need to know everything.

“River, do you want to see their ship?” he asked. “You were sleeping earlier. It’s nice there.”

She nodded so the three of them walked back together, Simon trying not to obviously twitch in the connecting tunnel. He wasn’t really designed for a life in space. River hummed happily to herself, apparently very cheerful.

“Your computer is entirely fixed,” Avon informed Mal. “Although your … mechanic can check if she likes … ”

He gave Kaylee a slightly scathing look, which she ignored with a haughty lift of her nose. She was wearing an entirely different outfit with a rather beautiful spangly skirt that was quite short and Simon quickly made sure to look at River rather than rudely stare. She was peering uncertainly at Blake, her head slightly on one side.

“Well, we’d best make sure Serenity’s running all smooth, just to be on the safe side,” Mal said easily. “Don’t want to get stuck, do we? Besides, I know the doctor there’s just longing to get a look at your infirmary, so. Wash, Kaylee, you do a quick systems check – and Kaylee, you get out of that sparkling thing before you do, I’m not going to listen to any complaints about oil stains if you don’t.”

Kaylee said something in reply but Simon wasn’t listening. He was watching River more closely now. Was it his imagination or was she beginning to shake? He edged towards her, hoping that nobody would do anything that would be alarming.

“River?” he murmured softly, trying not to draw attention. “River, do you want to go back to Serenity now?”

“The puzzle pieces got broken,” River said softly, rocking slightly on her feet. “They took them all out and they broke the parts and they don’t fit together any more. All the little pieces on the floor and you can’t make the picture any more.”

Blake was staring at her. Simon carefully took River’s wrist, trying not to startle her. This could sometimes lead to an explosion and he didn’t want that.

“What are you talking about?” Blake asked, his voice quite calm.

“They took them all out of the box,” River said, looking at him. “You can’t put them back. Nobody can. That’s why you’re so angry. All the bits that got smashed on the floor when they took the jigsaw away. It’s not fair. They want to play with all the toys, all in neat little lines. Little tin soldiers. But they bleed, they all _bleed!_ ”

Her voice had risen to a shriek now and Simon was aware that everyone was staring. Jayne was scowling and muttering something, Simon decided it was probably best not to hear it. He gripped River as firmly as he could and tried to pull her away from Blake.

“River, it’s all right, come on now, we’ll go back to the ship … ”

Kaylee appeared on his other side, reaching out to try and soothe River too and he was glad not to be alone. River was struggling, apparently trying to reach out for Blake, although Simon wasn’t sure why.

“They’re not tin soldiers!” she screamed. “They’re not, they’re not, they’re not! _They can make you bleed too!_ ”

Blake was looking pale and Simon wondered if some of this apparent nonsense was resonating with him. He’d felt that himself when River was babbling, knew that River was trying her best to explain important things that he just couldn’t quite understand. He and Kayee continued to usher River away, Simon trying to ignore the mutters that were following them. He shouldn’t have bought River over. He should have stayed with her on the ship where she was safe …

“Do you need help?”

Avon. Simon was surprised and rather gratified but he knew immediately that the man was likely to regret asking. River twisted and stared at him, her eyes wild.

“Blood!” she shouted at him. “There’s going to be blood, blood all over you and you’ll be sorry, you’ll be so sorry, _you’ll be sorry!_ ”

Avon took this remarkably calmly. He simply arched an eyebrow a little, as though River was simply talking quite normally.

“I expect you’re quite right,” he said reasonably.

This calm acknowledgement seemed to relax River a little. She stopped struggling against Simon’s grip and leaned against him, trembling but no longer hysterical. Avon looked at her for a moment, then said softly.

“Whose blood?”

River lifted her head and stared at him for a moment.

“ _His_ ,” she whispered and started to cry.

Avon’s face paled, just a little. He looked away from them both, then stepped aside to let Simon pass. Slowly, Simon and Kaylee helped River back through onto Serenity. River had calmed down a lot by then and curled up on her bed quite willingly, murmuring nonsense to herself.

“I think I’ll stay with her,” Simon said. “I don’t fancy facing all the questions. I get tired of all of the ... assumptions.”

“Oh, they’ll understand,” Kaylee said reassuringly. “They’re a nice bunch, ‘cept for that Avon and even _he_ wasn’t mean to River. Though I guess … he might be a bit upset now. He seemed to have an idea of the blood thing … ”

Simon didn’t answer that. He wondered if Avon believed River’s frantic talk or if she’d just managed to pick on something that was a lurking fear. He didn’t know and he didn’t really want to know.

“I’ll stay with her anyway. You’d best go and do that systems check the captain wanted. He might want us to leave after all of this.”

Kaylee nodded. She patted his shoulder and moved away and Simon settled down to watch over River and tried hard not to think about tin soldiers that bled when you knocked them down.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2013 livejournal 12dayschristmas challenge


End file.
